East Ramapo Central School District is a school district in Ramapo, New York , United States. It is headquartered in the Senator Eugene Levy Dr. Jack R. Anderson Education Center.
41-722: On March 4, 1952, seven school districts merged to form Ramapo Central School District No.2, due to centralization. On August 22, 1973, this district was renamed the East Ramapo Central School District. The school district has seen major demographic changes since the late 1990s. In 1997, of the 18,000 children transported by the district, 10,500 were students of yeshiva private schools . Joseph Berger of The New York Times said in an article written during that year that this involved "a proportion of public school money to bus private school students that few American towns can match." During that year 9,500 of
82-556: A bill that would create a state monitor to oversee the school district. By 2016, the state legislature and the school board were negotiating a budget compromise, but conflicts continued into 2017. In November 2017, a lawsuit was filed against the district in US District Court by parents of public school students, district residents, and the local chapter of the NAACP . The plaintiffs charged that by using at-large voting, it
123-456: A lack of transparency in its dealings. In violation of state laws, it held most of its meetings behind closed doors, only let residents speak at the end of meetings, typically late at night, and inappropriately called critics antisemites. Greenberg recommended that the state provide resources that would be delivered more fairly, but stopped short of calling for a state take-over of the district. On June 11, 2015, New York state Assembly members passed
164-627: A region known as the Lower Hudson Valley . It is owned by Gannett . The Journal News was created through a merger of several daily community newspapers serving the lower Hudson, which had previously been organized under the Gannett Suburban Newspapers umbrella; the earliest ancestor of the paper dates to 1852. Although the current newspaper's name comes from the Rockland Journal-News , which
205-623: A result of the publication, protests were held at the State Capitol in Albany , and the New York State Legislature passed a law allowing gun owners in the state to opt out of having their identifying information be available to the public. This catalyzed other states across the country to pass similar privacy measures. Newsday reported that police were investigating if The Journal News pistol permit map played
246-538: A role in a burglary in White Plains, New York. According to police, at least two burglars broke into a home on January 12, 2013 and unsuccessfully attempted to open a gun safe containing legally owned weapons. Police were investigating what role, if any, the Journal News database played in the burglars' decision to target the home. On January 19, 2013, the newspaper removed the interactive map, although
287-705: A series of suburban lifestyle magazines about the Lower Hudson Valley region. The first of these publications was InTown , which covered the Westchester market with hyper-local editions targeting different regions of the county: In late 2006, these numerous editions were all consolidated into one county-wide publication, InTown Westchester , which publishes 10 times a year. The Journal News also publishes five ultra-local community weekly Express newspapers serving Northern Westchester, Putnam, Yorktown/Cortlandt, Sound Shore, and White Plains as well as
328-499: The Associated Press reported that there is much tension in the school district, because the local school board is accused of favoring private schools at the expense of public schools. In April 2014, the group Rockland Clergy for Social Justice, which includes clerics from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups, asked Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo to intervene in the district. In September 2014, additional attention
369-589: The Review Press , a weekly newspaper covering Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. The Journal News' website, LoHud.com, features daily news updates, more than 40 blogs, as well as Varsity Insider , an online source for varsity sports, featuring rosters, schedules, and statistic for high school teams throughout the Lower Hudson Valley region. On March 7, 2010 The Journal News closed its press and outsourced printing. On August 7, 2013,
410-550: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 . She then ordered the district to abandon its at-large voting plan in favor of a neighborhood- or ward-based system that would increase the voting power of black and Latino voters. The district appealed the decision in January 2021 and then filed a second appeal. The report from the state-appointed monitor found that the district had not replaced hundreds of teachers removed in 2008 and that
451-602: The 1996-1998 consolidation period. In that, there was a fierce independence that led to exceptional reporting and photography on both sides of the Hudson River. Gannett acquired nine of the newspapers in 1964 from the Macy family and added The Star in Peekskill, New York in 1985. These newspapers previously appeared on newsstands in the evening. In 1989, Gannett created a morning edition for Putnam County, Westchester, and
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#1732780621722492-457: The 2022-2023 school year, the district proposed a budget of $ 262 million dollars, a $ 10 million decrease from the 2021-2022 which was supplemented by federal funds due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The budget included $ 90 million for facilities upgrades, using federal funding, of all 14 of the district-owned buildings. However the proposed repairs were planned during the summer vacation, during which
533-514: The Bronx called The Sunrise , but it folded after a year. Today, The Journal News appears in the morning like other New York dailies. Newspapers that merged in 1998 to create The Journal News : The Journal News successfully launched Putnam Magazine and Rockland Magazine in 2005, and Scarsdale Magazine (originally InTown Scarsdale ) in early 2006. In 2005, The Journal News expanded its Custom Publishing division and began publishing
574-635: The Orthodox Jewish population and the remainder of the District had lived under a system of détente , where private Jewish schools, or yeshivas, of the Orthodox would not receive additional scrutiny in meeting state standards, if the Orthodox population would refrain from voting in school district elections. The Orthodox population broke the détente over special education needs, upset that special education children would not receive public funding at
615-605: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 223319573 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:57:01 GMT The Journal News The Journal News is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester , Rockland , and Putnam ,
656-513: The advertisement, stating that it "draws from the worst of millennia-old antisemitic tropes about Jews". In 2022, Mary Dolan, who oversaw five years of dwindling circulation and online readership after cutting the sports department to the bone and pushing soft stories rather than accountability journalism, was sacked as news director and replaced with former photo editor Carrie Yale as Gannett once again cut editorial staff. On December 22, 2012, The Journal News published an interactive map showing
697-577: The blocked sale of the Hillcrest school. On August 31, 2011, New York State Office of the Comptroller released an audit of the Board, for the period July 1, 2008 to April 13, 2010. The report criticizes the district for a number of serious lapses including failing to put $ 2.4 million in professional services contracts out to bid, allowing three senior school board members to receive health care through
738-514: The children within the district were private school students from the Village of New Square , Village of Kaser , and the community of Monsey . A 1997 The New York Times article stated that some East Ramapo school district parents said that the high proportion of private school parents to public school parents could threaten the district. Harvey Katz, an Orthodox Jew who served as a school board member, said that "Just because my children are not in
779-525: The district has no social workers, despite having more economically disadvantaged students than any other district in Rockland County . In January 2021, a court subsequently ruled that the district owed over $ 4.3 million in legal fees to the NYCLU who had brought the original suit. However the board threatened to fire hundreds of teachers in retaliation if the fine was not reduced to one dollar. For
820-577: The district increasing by a 3 to 4 percent increment per year. By 2010, due to lowered taxes and reduced budgets, the district's finances had decreased and services were reduced at the schools, forcing students to take five- and six-year graduation plans instead of four-year plans. In July 2010 the School Board of the East Ramapo Central School District voted to sell its Hillcrest Elementary School—closed due to budget cuts—to Yeshiva Avir Yakov of New Square. In an official response to an investigation of
861-400: The district's public schools. Cuts included firing 15 special education teachers in the public school system while increasing funding for special education at the private yeshivas by 33%. It also included an increase of over $ 5 million in transportation for the private schools that the district was obliged to pay for, per New York State law. Greenberg accused the board of fiscal mismanagement and
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#1732780621722902-569: The district, with another 27,000 students attending private schools, mostly yeshivas. Approximately 96% of public-school students were black or Latino. ( Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten ) (k-3) (4-6) (K-6) (7-8) (9-12) In July 2010 the School Board of the East Ramapo Central School District voted to sell Hillcrest Elementary School—closed due to budget cuts—to the Hasidic Jewish Congregation Yeshiva Avir Yakov of New Square. The sale
943-435: The names, addresses and home addresses of all pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland Counties. Both Westchester and Rockland residents and major, national news organizations sharply criticized the newspaper. Despite this, the newspaper's editor and vice president, CynDee Royle, said that they had sought to publish even more detailed information, to which the counties had denied The Journal News access, and that
984-657: The newspaper laid off 26 staff members, including 17 journalists, and its editor, Caryn McBride. In February 2022, The Journal News ran an advertisement for an upcoming article on the East Ramapo Central School District , which Agudath Israel of America condemned as reproducing classic antisemitic tropes similar to those found in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion . The Anti-Defamation League 's New York / New Jersey branch also condemned
1025-723: The newspaper sued neighboring Putnam County for refusing to provide similar information. The following day, blogger Christopher Fountain published the names and addresses of the staff of The Journal News . The newspaper and some of its staff responded by hiring armed security guards, a move that critics called hypocritical considering the paper's anti-gun stance. Rockland County law enforcement officers condemned The Journal News ' map, saying that it endangered lives, including those of corrections officers . Several newspapers also published reports of victims of domestic violence , rape , or other violent crimes who reported that their attackers now had possession of their home addresses. As
1066-583: The newspapers shared some content and printing presses, although the Rockland Journal-News , formerly The Journal-News , the Rockland County Evening Journal and the Nyack Evening Journal , operated its own full composing room and printing press until fall 1996. The Rockland Journal-News had an independent staff of editors, writers, photographers, an artist, etc., from the time of the 1964 purchase by Gannett until
1107-421: The private schools. In 2005 the Orthodox Jewish population of the district gained majority control of the school board. This new board began reducing the budget and lowering taxes. The communities using the public schools have opposed these actions. In a 2007 magazine article Dr. Mitchell Schwartz, the superintendent of the district, said that growing Hasidic yeshivas resulted in private school enrollment within
1148-464: The public schools doesn't mean I don't care about all the children. Children are our future, wherever they may be." The district was one of five districts in New York State where more students were enrolled in private school than in public school due to religious reasons. According to reporting by radio show This American Life , which ran an episode in 2014 called "A Not-So-Simple Majority",
1189-434: The sale of the building stating the board failed its fiduciary responsibility to the district when it approved the $ 3.2 million deal. The sale eventually went through for $ 4.9 million. In July, the new state Education Commissioner John King put a hold on the district's sale of Colton Elementary to Congregation Bais Malka/Hebrew Academy for Special Children with similar questions over the appraisal and bidding process as dogged
1230-621: The sale, New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner stated the East Ramapo board “abused its discretion by hastily approving the sale.” The 12 acre campus, assessed at $ 10.2 million (market value) by the Assessor’s Office of Clarkstown was given only a $ 3.2 million appraisal by the school board's own attorney, Albert D’Agostino. On June 8, 2011 the commissioner of the NY State Education Department halted
1271-405: The school district had previously rented the buildings to private corporations for summer camps attended by Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish children. The first proposed budget failed on a vote held on May 17, 2022. On June 21, 2022, a second budget proposal was rejected by voters by a 2-1 margin, with a majority of opposed votes from wards with a large Jewish population. Because the proposal did not pass,
East Ramapo Central School District - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-426: The school district's insurance pool after they failed to make $ 15,672 in payments, and failing to maintain proper inventory controls over $ 2.4 million in textbooks purchased for students not attending public schools, as required under state law. Most unsettling, the audit found that District officials inaccurately projected a June 30, 2010 fund balance of $ 13 million when preparing District's 2010-11 austerity budget that
1353-549: The school will operate under its budget contingency plan for the 2022-2023 school year that limits the amount of revenue that can be collected and spent by the schools. In 2022, the East Ramapo Central School District was reporting as having a $ 36 million deficit. However, a 2024 audit discovered an unexpected $ 30 million cash surplus in the district's budget; poor record-keeping had caused district officials to believe they had less money than they actually did. The school district serves areas of eastern Town of Ramapo, and portions of
1394-625: The towns of Clarkstown and Haverstraw . Communities included in the district include: The district lies just to the east and borders the Suffern Central School District (formerly Ramapo Central), which serves much of the western portion of the Town of Ramapo, including Suffern , Sloatsburg , Hillburn , Montebello , and much of Airmont , excluding the extreme eastern portion of the village. As of 2020, there were approximately 11,000 students attending public schools in
1435-412: Was "East Ramapo bungled millions," and in a scathing editorial, the paper called for a thorough investigation of the board. During the year 2011, an article titled "Regions Aging Schools Crumble as Finances Falter" by Cathey O'Donnell and Gary Stern, was featured in a local newspaper, The Journal News , which is well known throughout the Lower Hudson Valley of Westchester County , New York . The article
1476-443: Was about several old school buildings within the region that were in a current state of disrepair, how much it would cost to fix them and which if any might need to be demolished. One of the school districts mentioned was East Ramapo. The New York State Education Department ("SED") has directed [the] District to post the following letter of non-compliance ( Archive ), sent to the District by SED on December 19, 2012. In March 2013
1517-646: Was based in West Nyack, New York , and served Rockland County, the Rockland Journal-News was actually the third-largest newspaper that Gannett merged to create the larger newspaper. The Reporter Dispatch from White Plains , New York, and the Herald Statesman in Yonkers were larger and served Westchester County. For years prior to the October 12, 1998, merger that created The Journal News , ten of
1558-518: Was brought as the aforementioned episode of This American Life was aired. It was subsequently reaired in June 2017. In November 2014 a state-appointed monitor charged with investigating the district delivered a sharply critical assessment. The monitor, Hank Greenberg, said the board showed favoritism to Jewish students who attend private Orthodox schools in the district, and cut services to the 9,000 district students, mostly black and Hispanic , who attend
1599-524: Was impossible for minority candidates to win competitive elections in the district. The district president stated the district did not set the election rules and that the lawsuit would cost the district money. U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel denied the districts motion to dismiss the case in April 2018. In 2020, Judge Seibel ruled in favor of the NAACP, finding that the district's election system violated
1640-530: Was initially blocked by the state due to a dispute of the school's appraisal. According to reporting by This American Life , the school was initially appraised at $ 6 million and the district board accepted a bid of $ 3 million. The sale was blocked by the New York State government and a subsequent bid for $ 4.9 million was approved for sale. 41°06′12″N 74°02′57″W / 41.103384°N 74.049121°W / 41.103384; -74.049121 Yeshiva Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1681-662: Was presented to the electorate and on which cutbacks and layoffs were based. In fact, the District's audited financial statement showed a June 30, 2010, fund balance of $ 17,793,047, substantially higher than public estimates. The report states: "The board, along with district officials, failed to fulfill its stewardship, oversight and leadership responsibilities when it failed to establish a proper control environment, implement its own adopted policy and establish policies and procedures required by sound business practices." The report concludes. "The deficiencies exposed district funds and assets to abuse, waste and/or loss." The local paper headline